Sharing writing tips, information, and advice.

How to Become a Great Author

by Jordan Jolley

Each author has different tactics of writing. Some authors will work from sunup to sundown while others may have part-time jobs. Some may have a deep love for historical fiction while another has a deep love for romance. Of course, one specific set of writing methods isn’t the same among authors. However, there are some tips and habits that will be very useful to anyone who writes. They are important tips.

Read. As I’ve said before: a good writer is also a good reader. Reading can introduce you to various structures of different stories. You can see what kind of books you like and which you don’t. Reading is the keystone of knowledge. Dr. Seuss once said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.“

Be Devoted. You don’t have to work from sunup to sundown everyday all week if you can’t. I don’t spend all day every day writing or revising. I like taking breaks to refresh my mind. That way, I can be mentally awake when I do write or revise. But you must always stay focused. Never procrastinate. Whether you are working on your book or not, write something every day, even if it’s in a journal. If you are one of those writers who like to work all day everyday, that’s fine.

Respect Other People’s Work. This doesn’t mean you have to love everything you read. You can have honest opinions. But your opinion doesn’t have to affect your respect. I have met authors who’s books I don’t jump head over heals for, but I have much respect for the authors and their books. If you respect other people’s works, the more likely they will respect your own.

Do Your Research. This applies to both fiction and non-fiction writers. A good story is believable. Whatever your subject, doing your research will make your story fly out of its pages.

Have a Hobby. An author’s work is inspired. How can you be inspired if you have nothing to inspire you? Do what you love. Read (a really good hobby), walk, play football, build or craft things, help other people (another really good hobby), do whatever. If you do things you like, they can really help you stay focused in your writing. It will help you go far.

Write Because You Enjoy It. This one is obvious, but important. You’ll have a much harder time writing a great story if you dislike it yourself. If you want to be an author, you have to enjoy what you do.

As you can see, there are only six tips above. There are more tips out there as well. Just remember that your work can be very valuable to the right people. These tips will help you become a great writer.

Guest post contributed by Jordan Jolley . Since he was a student in Elementary School, Jordan has devoted much of his time to writing. Though still young, he continues to prepare himself for a long yet adventurous journey in writing. He currently lives in Dayton, Idaho where he is creating the next chapter of The Tales of Draco series.

31 thoughts on “How to Become a Great Author”

Reblogged this on The Kingdom of the Woodland Realm Trilogy and commented:
I love this advice. It’s positive and true. Like what you do because you can’t live without it—you love it so much. Your passion will draw others to your work. ☺️ Read as much as you write and as often. Always remember, it’s never no; it’s just not now—rejection is time telling you not your time yet; not the right people to handle your brilliance. They need you more than you need them. 💞 Stay strong; hang in there.

Love it. I like the part about respecting other peoples work. I’ve read more than a few books that were hard to read, and then I had to step back and ask why. It boiled down to detail. The author had created a word so well thought out and structured, it left little to my imagination.
An example? Dune.
Frank Herbert had thought through every aspect of the work. So I approached it from a slightly different perspective. If I treated the book as “Historical fiction” rather than “Science Fiction”, then it worked a lot better for me. I’m into knowing how things worked, and that approach worked fine for me.
So rather than just saying I hated Dune, I found a another way to look at the world Herbert had created and appreciate it.

Helpful advice for all writers alike! I like how you keep in mind how all writers have different paces, and I like how respecting others in the greater writing community makes it onto this list: it’s not something everyone thinks about.

I know what you mean Claire. Sometimes we need to get that new idea in our head down on paper. What I try to do first is ask myself, ‘will this new idea fit in my current project in anyway?’ Then you can kill two birds with one stone.

I really agree. I love writing and reading, but at the same time there are other hobbies that inspire me. I also have to work throughout the day to pay the bills realistically and then write all throughout the night. Different things inspire me, but usually they’re fictional based off of true emotion and realization. I’ll be sure to follow this page for more posts!